City of Guelph

Guelph, Ont., October 13, 2017– Results of the 2017 citizen satisfaction survey are in! According to results of the survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, Guelph residents are satisfied, feel quality of life is excellent, are proud of their community, and have a strong sense of belonging.

“Results from the survey show we’re meeting citizen expectations on many fronts, and that’s very encouraging,” says Guelph Mayor, Cam Guthrie. “They also reveal where we need to focus to continue to ensure Guelph is the livable, welcoming community we all want and expect.”

The highest levels of satisfaction relate to quality of life; Guelph residents almost unanimously rate the overall quality of life in the city as “good” or “very good,” at 97 per cent. The proportion of residents who say it’s “very good” is seven points higher than the national norm.
Overwhelming majorities agree Guelph is a welcoming community (95 per cent), are proud to say they’re from Guelph (94 per cent) and have a strong sense of belonging (88 per cent).
Overall satisfaction with the delivery of City services is strong at 88 per cent. The survey also reveals large majorities of residents are satisfied with all 18 municipal services tested in the survey, with the highest satisfaction found for emergency service (98 per cent); police services (94 per cent); parks and trails (92 per cent); sewers and waste water (92 per cent); library services (91 per cent); and culture and tourism (91 per cent).
“These findings will support critical work and budget planning, contribute to the City’s continuous improvement plans, and ensure we’re on track to meet the goals of the corporate administrative plan,” says Guelph’s Chief Administrative Officer, Derrick Thomson.

“Gathering this data is the best way for us to understand how citizens experience City services. Acting on the data will help us ensure we’re meeting citizen needs and expectations.”
When asked about the top issues facing the community today, residents identified infrastructure, road reconstruction and maintenance (14 per cent); urban development and growth (10 per cent); transit and transportation (10 per cent); housing availability and affordable housing (8 per cent); and property taxes (7 per cent.)
Other survey highlights include that among those who had contact with City employees in the past year, 85 per cent are satisfied with the overall quality of the service they received.
In July, Ipsos Public Affairs conducted the 15-minute survey by telephone among a randomly-selected sample of 600 Guelph residents. In addition to the phone survey, 307 self-selected participants responded to an online survey. This is the City’s first comprehensive citizen satisfaction survey since 2011. Moving forward, the City plans to conduct the survey every two years.
City staff and Martin Hrobsky, Vice President of Ipsos Public Affairs, will present the findings to City Council at its October 23 meeting.
Click HERE for Council Report.

Hi Cam,
I think it’s great that people are proud of Guelph and our sense of belonging is high. When you say “This is the City’s first comprehensive citizen satisfaction survey since 2011.” Are you comparing it to the community survey the Community Index of Wellbeing did in 2011? That was a lot more in-depth and focussed on behaviours and perceptions of all facets of wellbeing. This is more of a satisfaction survey with city services and communications. I think it’s important not to confuse the two.